"Underground" movies we should see [Archive]

AngryLawnGnome

Mar 1, 2004, 10:00 PM

There are so many movies out that some gems are often overlooked. Any recommendations for movies we should be watching?

To start it off, Wet Hot American Summer, a summer camp parody by some of the member's of MTV's old "The State." It is honestly the funniest movie I've ever seen. Not many people know about it; it's only showing in some theatres in New York. There's actually some big name actors in it. Rent it, trust me, you'll laugh your ass off. Check it out here: www.wethotamericansummer.com (http://www.wethotamericansummer.com/)

Kwyjibo

Mar 1, 2004, 10:41 PM

I'm a big fan of the movie "Kids". Most people get a real shock out of that movie and its more or less very real ...

jrv3034

Mar 1, 2004, 11:11 PM

Two come to mind:

City of Lost Children

Delicatessen

Both are in French, but are definitely worth watching. Weird, awesome adventure(?) movies. By the makers of Amelie and Alien Resurrection.

Doctor Q

Mar 1, 2004, 11:46 PM

If you want to rent some great but lesser-known movies from years past, here's a random selection:

Geeky stuff:

Brainstorm (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0085271/)

Colossus: The Forbin Project (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0064177/)

Office Space (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0151804/)

Tron (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0084827/)

WarGames (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086567/)

Drama:

any Alfred Hitchcock film

Tiger Bay (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0053361/)
(I think I'm the only one who has ever seen this movie.)

Pure fun:

It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0057193/)

A Shot in the Dark (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0058586/)

Time Bandits (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0081633/)

Horror:

If you like scary movies and haven't already seen it, rent The Exorcist (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0070047/). And, although it is shocking, if you can find a copy of Freaks (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0022913/), the Tod Browning movie from 1932, it's amazing and unforgettable. I saw it at a monster movie marathon years ago and I can still visualize scenes from it.

Edit: Of these, only Freaks is really an underground film. But go see all of these movies anyway.

Vector

Mar 2, 2004, 01:20 AM

Not really underground, but everyone should see Brazil. Make sure that you watch the version edited by Terry Gilliam and not the studio/theater release, "love conquers all version", because it completely distorts Gilliam's ideas.

As far as current movies, people should see Fog of War. It is a documentary by Errol Morris, "Thin Blue Line", and won the oscar for best documentary. It is only showing in a very limited number of locations, but if you have any interest in history and McNamara's views on everything from the depression, to his time at ford, to vietnam you should see it. Its not really a conventional documentary since it basically consists of Morris interviewing McNamara and trying to make him speak his mind, meaning there are no views other than theirs. It is interesting watching Morris try to make McNamara admit certain things and seeing just how intellegent and quick McNamara is at nearly ninty.

Kingsnapped

Mar 2, 2004, 01:31 AM

I love getting bargan-bin DVDs just to see how bad they are, and learn how to do some cinematic tricks with a low budget. I have come across some gems though.

Falling Down is a great flick about a man who gets fed up with the little asinine things of an average day. Explosions ensue.
The old Godzilla DVD set rocks. Great for parties.
I'm not sure how underground it is, but Kaiju Big Battel (http://kaiju.com/home.htm) is pretty sweet. Taught me a lot of little tricks for special effects in Final Cut Pro.

pepeleuepe

Mar 2, 2004, 01:34 AM

Nanda Devi

Mar 2, 2004, 11:02 PM

I'm a big fan of documentaries and one of my favorites (I'd consider it fairly underground) is Crumb, about artist R. (Robert) Crumb. Definitely check it out if you are familiar with Crumb's work, or even if you're not for that matter. This film led me to the purchase of the beautiful, over-sized collection of his work, "The R. Crumb Coffee Table Art Book," which is a great book. The man is simply brilliant (slightly nuts, due to a seriously messed up childhood, but definitely a genius).

Another great documentary is Roger and Me, but I think most people have probably seen that one... Any other Michael Moore fans out there? He spoke here at the campus of Michigan State a few weeks ago, it was powerful. He was funny as hell, too, but also intense and angry... he drew a HUGE crowd, too. (Sorry, getting off topic here!)

ND

scem0

Mar 2, 2004, 11:21 PM

Hero (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0001KHXEA/qid=1078287547//ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl74/102-0915025-4120909?v=glance&s=dvd&n=507846)

It's supposed to come out in the US but Mirimax wants to cut the sad ending, which totally ruins the movie. I mean, can you imagine if they cut the sad ending of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon? That would have ruined the movie.

I couldn't find this movie at blockbuster, or hollywood video. I had to call around and then go to a local video store.

It is excellent though.

scem0

Nanda Devi

Mar 2, 2004, 11:25 PM

I just saw Dogtown and Z-Boyz (http://www.sonyclassics.com/dogtown/) recently and was really amazed at the history of the skate genre. A must see for anyone partially interested in the history of skateboarding. Thats my recommendation.

Now for film student girlfriend to chime in. Go see Happiness (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0147612/). Incredibly and wonderfully revolting. Phillip Seymour Hoffmans best role. If you like that, try Julien Donkey-Boy (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0192194/). It's absolutely nothing like Happiness but still worth seeing.

I checked out the link on Julien Donkey-Boy and realized it's by the same director who did Gummo, which is another underground film that is very bizarre but worth seeing. I will have to check out Donkey-Boy.

Another good film that I don't think many people have seen is called Box of Moonlight (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0115738). VERY good. Has one of my favorite actors in it, too: John Turturro.

JamesDPS

Mar 2, 2004, 11:45 PM

Hear Hear, Vector! Brazil is an amazing film -- although would my signature give me away as a Terry Gilliam fan?

I found out about a movie that I was shocked not to have known about when it came out, Equilibrium, which I'm sure everyone here will be like "oh you didn't see that? loser...", which is basically true. Can't believe it didn't blow away Matrix. But I guess it didn't have the fine actor Keanu saying "whoah".

Titus is great if you're in the mood for something heavy / somewhat intellectual (Anthony Hopkins and Jessica Lange in Shakespeare's psycho tragedy).

For something a little different, everyone should see Darren Aronofsky's Pi and Requiem for a Dream, and Richard Kelly's Donnie Darko. Probably not "underground", but it would be criminal for anyone not to see these films.

For a REALLY interesting foreign film, see Lucia y el Sexo (Sex and Lucia), but it's kind of X-rated so DO NOT watch it with the kids (or with the parents, for that matter... awkward!) Good to watch with the girlfriend :D

Once I go home and scan through my DVD collection I'll post again with more :)

Apple //e

Mar 3, 2004, 12:49 AM

a drink...for all my friends

alxths

Mar 3, 2004, 12:51 AM

Doctor Q

Mar 3, 2004, 01:31 AM

Even though it got an Oscar nomination this year, I'd consider American Splendor (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0305206/) to be an underground film.

And how 'bout this music video posted by one of our own (a Macrumors member) earlier today? link ( http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=62751)

Inspector Lee

Mar 3, 2004, 01:51 AM

a drink...for all my friends

It's a damn shame that is the best Follywood can come up with about the great "Henry Chinaski" aka Charles Bukowski. In the special collections at USC, they have a Bukowski collection and list as one of their holdings a completed screenplay for Post Office. Now that I would pay to see.

Best underground flick: Sympathy for the Devil by Godard

Soma_Addict

Mar 3, 2004, 04:39 AM

"Meet the Feebles"-Directed by Peter Jackson. I dare you to watch it. Seriously a part of my innocence was destroyed by that film, which is exactly what Peter Jackson intended.

Savage Henry

Mar 3, 2004, 04:54 AM

Best underground flick: Sympathy for the Devil by Godard

It was known over here as "One Plus One" and as much as I thought it was going to annoy me with it's social pretentions and the slow tedius piecing of a rock classic, I just couldn't take my eyes off it. Brilliant piece of film making. I believe that Godard wanted to work with The Beatles but they turned him down, and I'm glad they did.

748s

Mar 3, 2004, 06:23 AM

Tiger Bay (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0053361/)
(I think I'm the only one who has ever seen this movie.)

.

i've seen it, a couple of times, it's good.

anything by finnish director aki kaurismaki (http://www.nwfilmforum.org/grandillusion/kaurismaki/), the best film maker ever, is worth a look.
The man without a past (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0311519/)

Nik_Doof

Mar 3, 2004, 07:30 AM

"Clerks" - Kevin Smith. a all time classic

Mr. Anderson

Mar 3, 2004, 09:13 AM

I've seen a lot of these movies, but what is the definition of 'underground' movie?

Some not mentioned yet - Big Trouble in Little China (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090728/) with Curt Russell and Kim Cattrall

Evil Dead (I liked #3 the best)

And a great sci-fi from the 1956! - Forbidden Planet (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0049223/)

Sure its got Robby the Robot, but its actually quite a serious thinker of sorts. And probably one of the best sci films pre Star Wars that I've seen.

D

g30ffr3y

Mar 3, 2004, 11:18 AM

i know its been mentioned... but i cant say enough good things about Requiem for a Dream... but ill add... American Psycho, Donnie Darko and Ichi the Killer...

whooleytoo

Mar 3, 2004, 11:20 AM

jefhatfield

Mar 3, 2004, 11:24 AM

last year's whale rider was a great one

logicat2001

Mar 3, 2004, 11:30 AM

Breaking the Waves by Lars von Trier (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0115751/)

Faust by Jan Svankmajer (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0109781/)

Actually anything by either Jan Svankmajer or Timothy (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0703029/) and Stephen (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0703028/) a.k.a. The Brothers Quay.

Tom Down & The Language of Music (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0343107/)

Vector

Mar 3, 2004, 11:42 AM

Since sci-fi is so popular in this thread, try Cube (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0123755/), a dark film about a group of people who wake up, trapped in a macabre maze resembling a 3D version of those sliding picture puzzles..

Cube was good, but the sequel Cube 2: Hypercube (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0285492/) was just bad.

Doctor Q

Mar 3, 2004, 03:36 PM

Cube was good, but the sequel Cube 2: Hypercube (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0285492/) was just bad.Agreed. Cube was precisely 2^3 times better than Cube 2.

JamesDPS

Mar 3, 2004, 09:01 PM

I've seen Donnie Darko and as far as I can tell it's just a very overrated attempt at an artistic and deep film. It seems to me that people with hardly any mind of their own just cling to it to assure themselves that they are indeed intelligent...hmmm, what if we could travel through little wormholes...what if.. but maybe that's just me.. i dunno, if anyone managed to get anything else out of it, please enlighten me.

Andrei Tarkovsky isn't really known in the mainstream; but he makes some of the most inspiriational films I've ever seen... I'd recommend pretty much anything by him, but be warned: the pace is very very slow..

Maybe I AM a dumbass but I didn't see the whole "wormhole" thing as really having much to do with what the film was actually about, at all. ANY film that uses fantastical or impossible events, do so to illustrate the normal and inescapable. Donnie Darko is NOT sci fi, and sure it's not exactly your graduate philosophy material, but that doesn't make it a bad movie. But I haven't seen it in a while, and you might be right. Since you clearly have 100's of IQ points more than anyone else in the place, maybe you would care to share your thoughts on what we SHOULD be watching if we feel like assuring ourselves of our intelligence? (And please be more specific...)

JamesDPS

Mar 3, 2004, 09:16 PM

Don't know how I forgot -- maybe I was afraid of being labelled "mindless" ;) but did I mention David Lynch, especially "Mulholland Dr."? Not "underground", but certainly underappreciated, and worth a few viewings.

codycartoon

Mar 3, 2004, 10:10 PM

My films!

http://www.codybrown.8m.com

quite underground.

And also Clerks, and Pi are both excellent. I love indie film.

-cody

IIvan

Mar 3, 2004, 10:22 PM

Don't dis Donnie Darko- I saw it before it was "popular" (It used to be sort of underground) and I was amazed more by the awesome feel of Donnie's life and surroundings than the sci-fi aspect.

IF you get IFC watch that- they have some real good indie films sometimes

whocares

Mar 3, 2004, 10:35 PM

City of Lost Children

Delicatessen

These are considered to be mainstreem (at least in France). I do however highly recommend seing them. They're from the director of "Amelie" and observant people will recognize quite a few actors. The aesthetics and atmosphere in these two films are superb.

Frohickey

Mar 3, 2004, 11:06 PM

I found out about a movie that I was shocked not to have known about when it came out, Equilibrium, which I'm sure everyone here will be like "oh you didn't see that? loser...", which is basically true. Can't believe it didn't blow away Matrix. But I guess it didn't have the fine actor Keanu saying "whoah".

Equilibrium (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0238380/) was a very very good movie. Too bad it wasn't advertised. It essentially only had word of mouth going for it. And it was still profitable. Christian Bale, Sean Bean and Taye Diggs. Now if I only knew a sensei that teaches gun-kata. :D

I like documentaries. 50 Years War: Israel and the Arabs (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0204782/) is a good documentary to watch to figure out what has been happening over in that part of the world.

Another good movie that didn't have a lot of exposure was Basic (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0264395/) with John Travolta and Samuel L Jackson.

Oh, another good Sam Jackson movie is M Night Shyamalan's Unbreakable (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0217869/)

The_Dood

Mar 4, 2004, 12:47 AM

How about these:

The Dark Crystal (1982)
The Last Starfighter (1984)
They Live (1988)
Twin Peaks:Fire Walk with Me (1992)
Falling Down (1993)

All pretty crazy movies if ya ask me!! :D

Soma_Addict

Mar 4, 2004, 01:18 AM

Has anyone else seen "Meet The Feebles"? I can't be the only one.

Panopticon

Mar 4, 2004, 02:48 AM

By "Underground" I'm taking that to mean 'out of Hollywood'
I don't think anyone mentioned:

Session 9 (American)
Time of Favour (Isreali)
Hard Core Logo (Canadian)
No Man's Land (France/Canada/UK - I think)

kettle

Mar 4, 2004, 03:13 AM

Alice - Yan Svankmajer
my favourite of his :)

Dark City
Brazil
Frequency
The Straight Story
Million Dollar Hotel
Joan of Arc
K-PAX

Savage Henry

Mar 4, 2004, 03:45 AM

Has anyone else seen "Meet The Feebles"? I can't be the only one.

Yes. I heard it was by the director of Bad Taste and rather looked forward to it.

Thought it was quite poor, sorry. I'm not trolling, it's just how I saw it. I always felt that if you are going to attempt to parody a format it has to be at least as good as the subject, in this case the Muppets and that whole kids genre. That way it can stand on it's own legs. But Feebles was just weak.

I do know a couple of people that did like it, so I know there must be something in it ... I just can't see it myself.

Doctor Q

Mar 4, 2004, 04:23 AM

A couple of sneakily subversive movies:

The Magic Christian (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0064622/)

Eccentric Peter Sellers adopts adult Ringo Starr as his son. A nutty cast including Richard Attenborough, Christopher Lee, Spike Milligan, Roman Polanski, and (for about 2 frames) Raquel Welch.

Harold and Maude (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0067185/)

This time the kid is the eccentric one.

Soma_Addict

Mar 4, 2004, 04:32 AM

Yes. I heard it was by the director of Bad Taste and rather looked forward to it.

Thought it was quite poor, sorry. I'm not trolling, it's just how I saw it. I always felt that if you are going to attempt to parody a format it has to be at least as good as the subject, in this case the Muppets and that whole kids genre. That way it can stand on it's own legs. But Feebles was just weak.

I do know a couple of people that did like it, so I know there must be something in it ... I just can't see it myself.

I not sure if it was realy a parody of the muppets as much as it was a different take on puppet use in shows and movies.

What really made it special for me was seeing a medium used for an entirely different purpose than anything I had experienced from it before. Kind of like anime. For the most part, especially up until the mid-90's, most people had only seen animation that was targeted directly at children. Anime introduced the adult oriented animation, with violence, blood and sexual content.

For me, "meet the feebles" was a similar experience. Watching puppets get sick, do drugs, cuss etc. was something that i had never seen before. It was sick and disgusting and ruined a part of my childhood (I am a muppet fan) but I think that was the point of the whole venture. It was like watching the bizarro version of the muppets, the puppets in "Meet the Feebles" did the exact opposite of what the good natured muppets do.

Disgusting low budget movie where every character is a puppet. It is so absurd and so unique that it is comical.

All this from the oscar winning director of the "Lord of the Rings", Peter Jackson. Fabulous and well worth the watch.

wrc fan

Mar 4, 2004, 05:35 AM

There's a lot of "Underground" movies I've seen and thought were good, but I can't remember most of them.

Anyway, here are a couple "Indie" films I thought were good:

The Last Supper (http://imdb.com/title/tt0113613/)
Love and a .45 (http://imdb.com/title/tt0110395/)
Smokesingals (http://imdb.com/title/tt0120321/)
Night on Earth (http://imdb.com/title/tt0102536/)

I know there not all underground, specially since they all have actresses that went on to do bigger name films, but they weren't made in Hollywood.

Ghostworld (http://imdb.com/title/tt0162346/) if you haven't seen it, although not underground you should see it.

I also never heard of Igby Goes Down (http://imdb.com/title/tt0280760/) while it was in the theater, but saw it for rent. After about 3 months of thinking I should watch it just to see what Macully Culkin's brother is doing, I was pleasantly surprised.

Lastly if your not Italian and like foreign films, I'd recommend:

Cinema Paradiso (http://imdb.com/title/tt0095765/)
Ciao Professore (http://imdb.com/title/tt0200330/)
Johnny Stecchino (http://imdb.com/title/tt0102164/)
Ladri di biciclette (http://imdb.com/title/tt0040522/)
Caro Diario (http://imdb.com/title/tt0109382/)

I know there are more that I've forgotten, but these will have to do.

Savage Henry

Mar 4, 2004, 06:15 AM

What really made it special for me was seeing a medium used for an entirely different purpose than anything I had experienced from it before. Kind of like anime. For the most part, especially up until the mid-90's, most people had only seen animation that was targeted directly at children. Anime introduced the adult oriented animation, with violence, blood and sexual content.

For me, "meet the feebles" was a similar experience. Watching puppets get sick, do drugs, cuss etc. was something that i had never seen before. It was sick and disgusting and ruined a part of my childhood (I am a muppet fan) but I think that was the point of the whole venture. It was like watching the bizarro version of the muppets, the puppets in "Meet the Feebles" did the exact opposite of what the good natured muppets do.

You got good points and they probably support the people I know who liked it long before LotR.

For me I experienced the break from the norm regarding children focussed animation when I found the work of Robert Crumb (Fritz the Cat, Keep on Truckin' etc). His work is exceptional, but it is an easier medium to control. And I know for a fact the cheapness of Feebles struck me early on in the film at a very annoying level and it never quite made up that shortfall in my eye. Alternatively I love to this day Spiderman director's greatest work,The Evil Dead, despite it's cheap shoddy construction of an already tired format. I'd also say the best Alien and Terminator movies were the first of each of the franchises, both of which had miniscule budgets compared to their successors.

I guess I'm sensitive about having my childhood memories of Waldorf and Stadler or Pigs in Space being abused!

punkmac

Mar 4, 2004, 07:09 AM

I would check out the films of Jon Moritsugu. He is from San Francisco.

Films include:

Terminal USA
Mod F@@k Explosion
Der Elvis
My Degeneration
Sleazy Rider
Hippy Porn
and the latest is Scumrock.

He's about as underground as it gets.

I.

punkmac

Mar 4, 2004, 07:47 AM

I guess you should plug your own stuff too...

http://www.angelfire.com/punk2/hoopchuk/rotting_vi.mov

Rated R

I.

parrothead

Mar 4, 2004, 03:29 PM

Two great movies from down under:

Priscilla: Queen of the Desert
The Castle

And one from just east of there:

Once Were Warriors

wrc fan

Mar 4, 2004, 05:26 PM

Two great movies from down under:

Priscilla: Queen of the Desert
The Castle

And one from just east of there:

Once Were Warriors

The Castle is a funny movie. I should've thought of that.

alxths

Mar 4, 2004, 06:30 PM

...(And please be more specific...)

It's funny you should say that because you're making my comment out to be much more specific than it really was. I didnt say it was a "bad" movie; I said what I think about it; which is that the makers set the bar a little too high and then smacked their foreheads on it. Things in it like the wormholes and the crazy bunny carry connotations of depth; but I can't find any and neither could other people i've asked about it. Maybe it is a perfectly "good" in its own special little way; but after speaking with some people who've seen it, I think most people who like it are just attracted to the novelty of its seemingly artistic aspects.

mactastic

Mar 4, 2004, 06:45 PM

Anyone else seen 'The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension'?

And just 'cause it's getting popular now, don't forget 'Office Space'.

'Reefer Madness'
'Raising Arizona'
'Hands on a Hard Body'
'Fletch'
'Rocky Horror Picture Show'
'Spaceballs'
'Saturday Night Fever'
'Urban Cowboy'
'Natural Born Killers'
'Killer Klowns from Outer Space'
'Brother from Another Planet'
'Heavy Metal'
'200 Motels'
'Spinal Tap'
'The Wall'

Just a few of my favorites.... I'm sure I'll think of more later.;)

Nanda Devi

Mar 4, 2004, 06:58 PM

Someone else mentioned David Lynch...

The ultimate underground film, a true cult classic, is David Lynch's utterly bizarre film:

ERASERHEAD

Anyone's who's seen this will back me up on it I think...

I was a huge Lynch/Twin Peaks fan in high school and somehow managed to dig up a t-shirt from this flick...

Doctor Q

Mar 4, 2004, 06:59 PM

Well, you must admit that this (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0052948/) is the very definition of an underground movie. Ha ha made you look. :)

We shouldn't forget Attack of the Killer Tomatoes (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080391/) and a little UCLA Film School student film named THX 1138 (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0066434/). I've seen both.

Soma_Addict

Mar 5, 2004, 01:54 PM

Anyone else seen 'The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension'?

Buckaroo Banzai is a great movie. it is suprisingly well done too. The lighting and color is well organized and bright for a movie made in the early 80's.

I first saw that movie about 10 years ago when I watched it in my HS freshman science class. We were learning about particles and the teacher was a big fan of the movie. yeah, it was a stretch on her part but it was fun none the less.

They were supposed to make a sequel to the movie right away, everyone who survived the first movie had signed on for the second, but the company that owned the original rights to it went bankrupt and over the next few years the rights jumped from company to company. By the time the dust had settled all of the principal actors had moved on and were doing other things. If they would have expanded the story it would have really taken off.

Doctor Q

Mar 5, 2004, 02:41 PM

The ultimate underground movie was named "Red Asphalt" and they showed it in driver training classes. It showed gory traffic accidents and was intended to shock teenagers into taking driving safety (or maybe it was specifically drunk driving) very seriously.

wwidgirl

Mar 6, 2004, 04:27 AM

I capture the Castle
The Shape of Things
Run Lola Run
Whale Rider

womencantsail

Mar 6, 2004, 12:56 PM

Cannibal: The Musical. Done by Trey Parker And Matt Stone (as in the creators of South Park). Absolutely hilarious, and one of my favorites.

Flowbee

Mar 6, 2004, 01:04 PM

XnavxeMiyyep

Mar 6, 2004, 01:30 PM

I'm not sure how underground it is, but Kaiju Big Battel (http://kaiju.com/home.htm) is pretty sweet. Taught me a lot of little tricks for special effects in Final Cut Pro.
I love Kaiju Big Battel. I've seen it live a few times, too.

I recommend the movie Suicide Club, although not for young children.

Thomas Veil

Mar 6, 2004, 01:58 PM

For me, few things are better than spending the weekend finding one or two real gem movies that you've always meant to see.

I just watched "Hannie Caulder", a 1971 western starring Raquel Welch and Robert Culp. Welch alone is a good enough reason to watch a movie, but here she plays an unusual role: a woman who's been widowed and raped by a trio of outlaws (Ernest Borgnine, along with two guys who seem obligated to appear in every western ever made, Jack Elam and Strother Martin). Welch gets Culp, a bounty hunter, to teach her how to kill with a gun, so she can go after the baddies. There are some thematic elements -- a mysterious stranger, the subject of revenge warping your personality -- that appear underdeveloped; it's weird to see Christopher Lee in the Old West; and some of that Clint Eastwood-style dialogue sounds odd coming out of Raquel Welch's mouth...but overall it's an interesting, different kind of western.

I also saw "Mutiny on the Bounty", the Charles Laughton/Clark Gable version, which was very entertaining, if a bit dated.

But the very best was one movie I had seen before, but revisited for the first time in years: "Zorro, the Gay Blade". This movie, along with "Love at First Bite", are the two films which showed that George Hamilton can be something more than a Hollywood joke. In fact, his comedic talents are downright brilliant, and I dare say "Zorro" and "Love" are much funnier than the parody films that Mel Brooks was making only a few years later ("Dracula - Dead and Loving It" and "Robin Hood: Men in Tights").

Here, Hamilton plays both Don Diego Vega and his flamboyantly gay twin brother, Bunny Wigglesworth. Now, this could have easily been offensive, but Hamilton pulls it off the "swishbuckling" with charm. Bunny is so comfortable with his homosexuality -- and Don Diego is so tolerant -- that it defangs any criticism of political incorrectness. (Plus, Bunny looks so good in plum, lime green and banana colored Zorro outfits!)

You can tell that the producers and writers had a reverence for the Zorro legend, because it shows throughout the movie. This movie doesn't laugh at Zorro, but with him. Don Diego makes a believable transformation from an egotistical, aimless playboy to a selfless hero who resolves to "defend the defenseless, befriend the friendless, and defeat...the defeatless."

And lastly, the music, based on Max Steiner's "The Adventures of Don Juan", is just fabulous. Real swashbuckling stuff. I wish there was a CD of it.

Vector

Mar 6, 2004, 02:33 PM

I capture the Castle
The Shape of Things
Run Lola Run
Whale Rider

I forgot about Lola rennt. That is a very good movie, as is Der Krieger und die Kaiserin by the same director, Tom Tykwer, and with Franke Potente.

womencantsail

Mar 7, 2004, 11:50 PM

It's not exactly "underground", but "A Mighty Wind" is a great one. Absolutely hilarious. By the same folks who did "Best In Show".

Tequila Grandma

Mar 8, 2004, 11:38 AM

I'm not sure if many of the films mentioned can really be considered "underground". Something a little bit closer to underground films would be Paul Morrissey's 60's films, produced by Andy Warhol. These films were obviously made simply to have fun making a movie, not for viewing by any kind of mainstream audience. I contend that you haven't truly experienced 60's filmmaking until you've endured the perverse wackiness exhibited in these films. In "Women In Revolt", for example, we're treated to seeing drugged-up drag queens wandering around aimlessly, babbling meaningless pieces of dialogue, and primarily just yelling at ugly men's penises. Others, however, have Joe Dallessandro *drools*.

A bit more mainstream, but certainly worth seeing are the Morrissey/Warhol films "Blood For Dracula" and "Flesh For Frankenstein". Both are absolutely hilarious and overtly sexual films. However, they're both also excellently shot, and feature the outstanding Udo Kier in his most over-the-top roles. I highly recommend both of them, even if Criterion still hasn't reissued them with 16x9 transfers.